Upcoming Federal Executions
– January 12, 2021, Tuesday, of Lisa Montgomery
– January 14, 2021, Thursday, of Cory Johnson
– January 15, 2021, Friday, of Dustin Higgs
From left to right:
Dustin Higgs (image via Change.org), Cory Johnson (Image via Richmond Police, Lisa Montgomery (Image via AP Images)
Image from VICE article – December 22, 2020
Trump Is Executing 3 More People Before He Leaves Office. Here Are Their Stories.
Some excerpts from VICE article: Trump Is Executing 3 More People Before He Leaves Office. Here Are Their Stories. (vice.com)
During Donald Trump’s final weeks in office, his administration is pushing the 11th-hour execution of three more Americans, despite outcries about the fairness of their convictions—and the impact of COVID-19 on their cases.
~ LISA MONTGOMERY ~
Lisa will be the first woman executed by the federal government in 70 years.
Lisa’s Song YouTube – This song describes Lisa’s life – turn on the sound
Lisa’s Song by Veronica Cinibulk – YouTube
“ Lisa Montgomery, a victim of childhood torture, sexual abuse and sexual trafficking, is facing impending execution. Lisa lives with permanent brain damage and severe mental disabilities. Yet the jury never learned about the full extent and impact of her childhood torture and sexual abuse on her development. Today, her mental illnesses are so severe that they can only be controlled by a complex cocktail of psychotropic medications.”
“But before her crime, she faced years of physical and sexual abuse from her alcoholic mother, stepfather, and stepbrother. Her attorneys have repeatedly—and unsuccessfully—asked for a life sentence over capital punishment, citing brain scans that show the abuse stunted her emotional and mnemonic development.”
“Montgomery, a Kansas-native was convicted of murdering Bobbie Jo Stinnett, a 23-year-old pregnant woman.,, She snuck into the expectant mother’s home, strangled her, and then used a kitchen knife to remove the fetus…” The newborn who is alive was turned over to her father.
“Montgomery, who was sentenced to death in 2007, killed Stinnett after her ex-husband, who is also her step-brother, threatened to take Montgomery to court over custody of their kids…”
Lisa is currently being held at the Federal Medical Center-Carswell at Fort Worth Texas. (it is not known when she will be transported to Indiana where federal executions take place)
Lisa Montgomery, #11072-031
Federal Medical Center-Carswell
P.O. Box 27137
Fort Worth, TX 76127
~ COREY JOHNSON ~
YouTube – Stop the Execution of #CoreyJohnson, a Man with Intellectual Disability
Stop the Execution of #CoreyJohnson, a Man with Intellectual Disability – YouTube
In the United States, there is a broad consensus that we do not execute people with intellectual disability. The U.S. Supreme Court has held unequivocally that to do so would be a violation of the prisoner’s 8th Amendment rights. This is why the execution of #CoreyJohnson must be stopped. Corey Johnson was convicted for his role in multiple murders. He was tried in federal court and sentenced to death. However, his legal team did not seek out and discover the significant evidence of Corey’s intellectual disability, and this evidence has STILL not been examined by any court. Please join our efforts to stop the unconstitutional execution of #CoreyJohnson
“When Johnson was 13, he was abandoned by his drug-addicted mother to a residential facility for children with intellectual and emotional impairments, because he could not learn and because she could not cope with his significant limitations
He was released back into the community when he was 18 from a similar facility with no life skills, no structure or support, and little chance of succeeding in life, said the lawyers…”
“Cory Johnson’s criminal activity came to a head when he became one of three members of the Newtowne gang found guilty and sentenced to death in the killing of at least 10 people between 1989 and 1992. The murders were carried out while the trio was involved in crack-cocaine trafficking in the city of Richmond…”
Johnson, now 52 years old, “… grew up in New York City with an abusive mother who used heroin, one of his attorneys, Donald Salzman, told VICE News. He was intellectually disabled from an early age but managed to fly under the radar without a diagnosis, as his mother continued to beat and berate him before abandoning him at the age of 13, according to the research of multiple psyche experts retained by Johnson’s attorneys. He lived in a series of foster homes for the intellectually disabled until the age of 18 when he fell into drugs and illicit activities in Jersey and years later, Virginia…”
Johnson’s attorneys said information regarding their client’s mental status was never presented during his original criminal trial.
In December, “…Johnson contracted COVID-19. His attorneys filed a petition with the Department of Justice asking President Trump to commute Johnson’s sentence to life in prison without parole, citing his proven mental disability, good behavior while in prison, and his debilitating COVID-19 symptoms, but the DOJ has not yet responded…”
~ DUSTIN HIGGS ~
Save Dustin J. Higgs
Vimeo video: HOME | SAVE DUSTIN J HIGGS (scroll down site to view video)
Dustin is scheduled to be executed on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
Dustin Higgs, now 48 years old, “…was one of three men found guilty of kidnapping and killing three women in Beltsville, Maryland in 1996. But even though Higgs didn’t pull the trigger that night, he was the only person to receive a federal death sentence in the case.
“In 1996, Higgs, a Maryland-native, and his co-defendants were hanging out at Higgs’ apartment with the three women: Tamika Black, 19; Tani Jackson, 21; and Mishann Chinn, 23. After one of the women rebuffed Higgs’s advances that night, he offered to give them a ride home.
But instead of doing what he promised, Higgs, with his two friends in the car, drove the women to a secluded area in Beltsville, Maryland, and ordered them to shoot the women, according to the DOJ.
Now his attorney, Sean Nolan, says Higgs shouldn’t be executed as he did not pull the trigger the night of the crime. Nolan also pointed to discrepancies in the federal case against him, including that Higgs’ alleged orders to kill the women came from the testimony of a co-defendant who was offered less time in prison in exchange for saying the crime was Higgs’s idea.”
Almost a month before his execution date, Higgs also contracted COVID-19. Last week, his attorney filed a petition with the Department of Justice in hopes of commuting his sentence, favoring life in prison without parole instead.
“His diagnosis less than a month before his scheduled execution means that, absent a commutation or reprieve, he will be forced to spend much of his remaining time battling a serious disease,” the petition explains. “He will also be substantially less able to meet with members of his legal team and family.”
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PETITIONS:
1. Tell President Trump to Stop the Execution of Lisa Montgomery
SIGN: TELL PRESIDENT TRUMP TO STOP THE EXECUTION OF LISA MONTGOMERY | MoveOn
This petition is also supported Lisa Montgomery’s sister, Diane Mattingly, who as a child was removed from the home by the Department of Social Services. Lisa was left in the home to be tortured by their mother and step-father.
Petition created by Cornell Center on the Death Penalty
2. Stop the Execution of CoreyJohnson a Man with Intellectual Disability
SIGN” https://www.change.org/p/donald-j-trump-stop-the-execution-of-cory-johnson
Johnson is intellectually disabled, and after a 2002 Virginia case, the Supreme Court ruled it unlawful to execute a person who is of “such low intelligence that they can’t function in society”. Also, NO jury or court has listened to the evidence that his lawyers have presented to decide whether or not Johnson has an intellectual disability. Please join efforts to stop the unconstitutional execution of #CoreyJohnson.
3. Save Dustin Higgs
SIGN: Save Dustin Higgs – Action Network
Dustin Higgs was convicted and sentenced to the federal death penalty as an accomplice to the 1996 murders of Tanji Jackson, Tamika Black and Mishann Chinn. It was the first federal death sentence handed down in Maryland in the modern era. Dustin was not the person who actually shot the three women. In fact, it was Willis Haynes who pulled the trigger, and he was sentenced to life in prison plus 45 years after a separate jury spared him the death penalty for the crime. With the resumption of federal executions in 2020, Dustin’s life is at serious risk.
4. Congress must abolish the death penalty
SIGN: Sign the petition: Congress must abolish the death penalty (dailykos.com)
Congress must act quickly to protect the lives of Ms. Montgomery, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Higgs by abolishing the death penalty.
5. Tell Trump to Stop to Please Stop Federal Executions
SIGN: President Trump: Please Stop the Federal Executions – Action Network
Petition from Death Penalty Action
6. Mr. Rosen, You Have the Power: RESCIND THE DEATH WARRENTS!
SIGN: Mr. Rosen, You Have The Power: RESCIND THE DEATH WARRANTS! – Action Network
Petition from Death Penalty Action
7. Tell Congress: Abolish the Federal Death Penalty
SIGN: Tell Congress: Abolish the Federal Death Penalty – Action Network
Petition from Death Penalty Action
8. Congress: Abolish the Federal & Military Death Penalty (prepared individual letter that can be modified & sent to your Representative and Senators )
Click: Congress: Abolish the Federal & Military Death Penalty – Action Network
· Address pervasive and systemic racism in the criminal legal system by ending the federal and military death penalty; Sign on in support of HB 4052, Rep. Pressley’s bill to abolish the death penalty.
· Remove the power of the president to use executions for his own political purposes by passing legislation to end the federal death penalty and prohibit any further federal executions;
· Close the legal loophole that allowed the federal government to override the Navajo Nation’s stated desire that Lezmond Mitchell not face execution.
Tell congress the death penalty is not an effective tool to stop crime. Government makes mistakes, the criminal justice system is fraught with disparity and unfairness, prison workers should not be forced to take on the burden of killing defenseless prisoners once let alone at the rapid pace of the current federal execution schedule, and it is a cruel hoax to suggest that executions provide healing to murder victim family members.
Prepared by Death Penalty Action
9. Organizational Sign-On Letter
OPEN: Congressional Sign-On Letter – Death Penalty Action
From Death Penalty Action
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RESOURCES
Death Penalty Action / News / Press & Newsletter
Death Penalty Action on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/deathpenaltyaction/
Death Penalty Action Site
Stop Federal Executions – Death Penalty Action
Engage on social media – share our posts on this issue through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
Email list:
Death Penalty Action Federal Executions Email List Sign Up – Action Network
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ARTICLES (most recently known)
1. Death Penalty Action Delivers Over 500,000+ Signatures – January 8, 2021
Death Penalty Action Delivers Over 500,000+ Signatures (einpresswire.com)
2. Death Penalty Action – live at Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building (video) – January 8, 2021
